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(The Mighty Favog, a Baton Rougean now living in Omaha, NE; penned a response to McCollister's drivel as well. CenLamar reminds us that Rolfe McCollister was Governor PBJ's Treasurer, and dings the Friedman Theory of Economics while he takes apart McCollister's arguments.)
My wife has been telling me to get the Business Report daily email. So I did. And, boy, did Rolfe McCollister, the publisher of the Business Report, pen a baaaaaaaaad one on whether the voters of East Baton Rouge Parish should approve a 10 year, 1 cent sales tax to pay for, new school construction, technology in the classroom, and higher teacher pay.
He writes:
"You keep paying and nothing changes. We need drastic measures to re-invent our system much like New Orleans has. Don't feel guilty about voting no. You have paid taxes for years [and many paid tuition as well, choosing not to use the public schools.] The system should feel guilty for not delivering results, when they said if we gave them the money, they would. I have had enough and will send a vote of "no confidence" in the system by voting no on March 8. The children and our community deserve better."
Hmmm ... the folks keep paying and nothing changes? We need drastic measures to re-invent our system much like New Orleans has? I pray that Mr. McCollister is not advocating for a Category Five hurricane to come bearing down on Baton Rouge.
But let's get serious. Follow after the jump! |
| The voters of Baton Rouge HAVE NOT "kept paying" and nothing changes, Mr. McCollister. We voted for this tax for the first time in 1998, and it was the first time in thirty years that the voters of Baton Rouge voted for anything more than an austerity budget for EBR public schools. The School Board in 2003 told us that the one cent sales tax would go to building new schools, renovating others, putting technology in the classroom, and giving teachers a bump in pay.
And what happened, Mr. McCollister? Exactly what the School Board said would - build new schools (7, with 3 more on the way); repaired 40; spent millions on technology to the point that no classroom is without a computer; gave teachers a bump in pay, and created 6 new alternative schools!
Mr. McCollister also needs a lesson in mathematics. He mentions that the school enrollment in EBR has dropped 8.9% since the 2005-2006 school year, with the raw numbers falling to 44,154 from 48,454. Ummm ... go back to second grade, Mr. McCollister, as you'll learn that 48,454-44,154=4,300; not the 5,500 you claim in a later paragraph.
But more importantly, why pick the 2005-2006 school year? That's the year when quite a few of New Orleans' students came into EBR schools, thanks to Hurricane Katrina. Are you really surprised that enrollment has dropped, as their parents have moved elsewhere or back to New Orleans? And about that 67,000 students in 1979 ... well, if it weren't white flight, maybe, just maybe, we'd have more students today. But no, white parents couldn't stomach the thought of sending their little children to school with their dark-skinned brothers and sisters. So most folks like you sent their kids to private schools or moved out the EBR Parish School System.
So, Mr. McCollister, could you answer me a couple of more questions? I pray that you will:
How does taking money away from public schools help them? It's obvious that EBR Schools, thanks to neglect from the voters of EBR Parish from 1968 to 1998, needs to build new schools to educate our children, bring technology into the classroom to allow our students to keep pace with students in wealthier school districts, and keep teacher pay in line with the Southern regional average, so we can recruit better teachers. How do you propose they do that without the one cent sales tax?
The last question I have for you is this:
If you were to dock the pay of your staff, do you expect them to keep coming into work? Because that is what you are proposing EBR schools do with a "no" vote on the tax proposal. Teachers may stick out the year, but once the school year is over, quite a few of the best teachers we've got will be looking to move to a district that won't cut teacher pay.
Mr. McCollister, if you really want to make change in education ... perhaps you ought to see what the KIPP Academies are doing - they pay their teachers $60,000 a year, but they work from 7 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday and work on Saturdays too. And so do the students. They teach kids that there are no shortcuts, that it will take hard work for them to learn.
But the BEST part of the program is this: the teachers, parents and students all have to sign a contract with each other that they will all be responsible for the kids' education. That's what it's going to take ... that, and MONEY. And, Mr. McCollister?
Unlike in the business world, where companies look to do things on the cheap, in education ...
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS. |
